A natural choice for a nice juicy rib eye would be a nice hearty Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa Valley produces world class Cabernets, but one producer in particular makes a Cabernet head and shoulders above the rest. Cathy Corison of Corison winery has been making Cabernet Sauvignon in her own style for years. As trends in wine ebb and flow, Cathy stays the course and honors the land her grapes come from.

Corison Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most balanced, structurally correct wines out of Napa. There’s just the right about of oak and just the right amount of extraction. By that I mean, many Cab producers in Napa overly oak and overly extract their wines, which takes some of the style away from the wine.

Cathy farms her land and makes her wine with as little intervention as possible. It requires more work, but the results speak for themselves. This is a true “wine geek” wine. Think of Corison Cabernet as a Mercedes 500 SL—it’s stylish, elegant and precisely made. Many other Napa Cabernet producers could be thought of as a Ford F-350 in this analogy. They’re big and burly…some people like that style which is fine. For this recipe, Corison is a wonderful pairing.

To concentrate the flavors of the beef, consider dry aging your steaks at home ahead of time. Also, make sure you select well-marbled ribeyes, preferably grass fed. At least 4 hours ahead of time, season both sides of the steaks liberally with sea salt, red pepper flakes, fresh ground pepper, garlic, rosemary and olive oil. The longer the seasoning sits on the beef, the more it'll add flavor.

To make the reduction sauce (you can do this hours ahead of time if you want) finely chop the shallots and sautée in a saucepan with 1/4 cup olive oil.

Once shallots are golden brown, stir in flour. Reduce heat and stir in beef stock as well as red wine. Turn up heat and bring to a boil. Once sauce begins to boil, add a bay leaf and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer sauce until it's reduced to about 3 TBSP. When ready to serve, stir in dijon mustard or a little cream over medium heat.

When it's time to grill, preheat the grill as hot as you can get it. I'm a big fan of cooking meat for a shorter time over hotter heat. It forms that crust on the outside while sealing in juices and keeping it pink in the center. I add the olive oil to the marinating process because during grilling, some of that oil along with fat drips off into the flames causing it to flame up and add to the outer flavor texture.

Once the grill is going, add the steaks. An average sized ribeye needs about 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare. I always like to have an extra sprig of rosemary in the marinade. While the steak is cooking, you can use it as a brush making sure to get every last drop of marinade onto the meat while it's cooking.

Before serving, pour the steak juice into the sauce. Plate those bad boys and spoon the sauce over. Enjoy!